Francisca
Francisca is currently an innkeeper for a road inn in the Royal Dominion but has quite a past. A card carrying member of the Democratic Front, Francisca vigorously believes in the rights of Hispanics in the Royal Protectorate of Tampico. Biography Born in Tampico on October 3, 2215, Francisca was born poor and worst, Hispanic. In her early years, she was neglected by her parents who had to work all day. As a result, she was taken care of by one of her many siblings, Hernandez. Hernandez taught her languages (Spanish and English), some writing and Catholic teachings, and the ins and outs of city life for poor Hispanics. Francisca remembers him well to this day. It was unfortunate then that he shot in 2225 for possession of a shank at the age of fifteen by PDF soldiers. This saddened Francisca greatly but did not dim her hope for the future. After Hernandez got shot, Francisca began pick-pocketing and begging herself, hoping to make a bit of money while her parents were still at work. She was known for her bright smile and good English. At first, this was fine and she made quite a bit of money from it. However, in the late 2220s revolutionary sentiment was stirring up in Tampico, and the streets became more dangerous. In 2227, a drifter coming through the city from the south saw Francisca on the street begging and assumed she was a prostitute. One thing led to another, and the drifter was forcing himself on Francisca in an alleyway while she screamed for help. The PDF, standing on an opposite street corner, did nothing, either not noticing or thinking it was not worth their time. The drifter left the city after he was done, leaving Francisca to sob quietly in the alleyway. The rape led to a great many changes for Francisca. A once happy talkative girl became quiet and sullen. This pushed away Francisca's already distant parents and many of her siblings. She hated that the PDF had done nothing but refused to talk about the experience with anyone, having trust issues and not wanting to open up old wounds. Francisca stayed off the streets, instead listening to the radio almost all day. It was on the radio that Francisca first heard of Jorge Cruces and his ideas of revolution. These ideas attracted the alienated Francisca, and she was very angry when Cruces' radio station was shut down in late 2227. During that time, Francisca had been not working or looking to be married, and it was becoming more concerning her parents every day. For the next five years, Francisca became progressively more radicalized as she became more angry at the government for what happened to her brother and what had happened to her. Her parents, usually very aloof, became very concerned about this radicalization especially when they found a crossbow hidden in Francisca's room in 2230. Not wanting to face retribution, Francisca stole back her crossbow and fled to the countryside to join Jorge Cruces and his rebels in liberating Tampico. In the countryside, Francisca did not find Cruces but instead found another band of rebels, the small but formidable Army of the Reconquista. Francisca leveled her crossbow at them, asking if they were rebels and if she could join. Their leader, a hulking mulatto named Toro, welcomed Francisca into their ranks, saying that she was tough for a city girl. For the next two years, Francisca stayed with the Army of the Reconquista, readying to finally strike the Anglos' city. They mostly trained and robbed Anglo travelers at that time. Francisca made friends with the rebels and finally began to trust people again. She even had her first boyfriend in 2232, putting her past experiences behind her for her own good (in her own eyes at least). In 2232, all hell began to break loose in the Royal Protectorate of Tampico, and the Army of Reconquista to knew it was time to make their move. They decided to combine with the newly formed Democratic Front and take part in the revolution. Hearing of the fall of Downes, the Army of the Reconquista moved into the area to take the regional capital, Oldham. There, they encountered the Democratic Front encamped, ready for the assault on Oldham. While in the camp, Francisca met Jorge Cruces for the first and only time and had him sign one of her bandoliers. That became a treasured possession for her. Meanwhile, the Army of the Reconquista was absorbed into the Democratic Front. Upon joining the Democratic Front, Francisca was given firearms for the first time and taught to use them. After a week or two encamped and capturing a few small communities, the rebels, Francisca included, moved on Oldham. The PDF soldiers in town knew they were coming and set up barricades to try to defend Oldham. Francisca was one of the rebels at the front of the line and heard the Brits try to threaten the rebels into lowering their arms. Along with the other rebels, Francisca met that with a resounding no and charged the barricades. This proved only to be the beginning of the Battle of Oldham. The PDF soldiers took many rebels to their graves over the next two weeks, but the barricades eventually fell due to the sheer weight of numbers. After the fall of the barricades, the PDF soldiers withdrew to Oldham's town center to prepare for a last stand. Luckily, the mayor and many of the soldiers' families convinced them otherwise, and they surrendered to Cruces and the Democratic Front. While Francisca and the rest of the Democratic Front celebrated their victory, news of the fall of Oldham echoed through the Protectorate from Fort Comstock to Tampico itself. The Anglos were afraid of what Cruces might do. Francisca reveled in this, hoping for the day she would return to Tampico and liberate the city. In the next few months, Francisca roamed the Protectorate with the rebels. In that time, the Democratic Front seized the rest of the Oldham region and the Frontier District with little bloodshed and moved to take Santa Clara by force. Instead, the Democratic Front was surprised to find that the Hispanic inhabitants of Santa Clara had already liberated the town. Happy to find this, Jorge Cruces set their course for Tampico, where they would dethrone the dictator Washburn and tear down the oppressive policies of the Protectorate. By 2233, the Democratic Front's numbers had grown to almost two thousand, swelled by volunteers from Santa Clara and PDF deserters. One of the volunteers, Ruth, became a good friend with Francisca on the march to Tampico. The two really connected on a personal level, as Francisca had not really had a true friend in years. On the way to Tampico, the two became even closer, become partners as well as friends. Francisca never knew she could love another woman but being with Ruth just felt right. In the fall of 2233, the Democratic Front finally reached Tampico. That was when the Siege of Tampico began, as did the problems between Francisca and Ruth. The siege was long and much was revealed during it. Francisca told Ruth about her rape and problems with her parents after a particularly heated conversation. She wanted to tell Ruth before they entered Tampico and perhaps would meet her parents. Ruth was shocked at Francisca's alienation at her parents and lack of caring towards their potential well-being. Ruth even began to doubt that Francisca cared for her, just wanting Ruth for her own pleasure. Telling Francisca that she lacked empathy and any real emotions, Ruth decided to leave her then and there. Francisca shrugged it off as another perceived betrayal and continued the fight. Tampico fell, and Francisca emerged from the fight unharmed. The Democratic Front was victorious with Hispanics attaining full rights within the Protectorate. That satisfied Francisca. However, what Ruth said to her earlier in the siege had begun to tug at her conscience. She had not cared for her parents or Ruth really and had become distant and violent towards everyone. So she tried to turn her life around. Not joining the PDF along with most of the rest of the Democratic Front, Francisca met her parents for the first time in years, and they talked. Most of her siblings had fled to the countryside when the siege had begun, but Francisca's parents had stayed, working continuously through regime changes. Forgiving Francisca for running away, her parents invited her back to live at home, which she accepted for a time. Her parents supported her completely, hoping to keep home for a little longer. While in Tampico living with her parents, Francisca mainly tried to focus on political things such as getting hispanics out to vote for the Democratic Front and making sure the Anglos obeyed rule of law (with a dose of vigilantism). It was through this that Francisca met Perez Garcia, her future husband. A member of the Democratic Front and the rebuilt Provisional Defense Force, Perez had joined the PDF in hope that could assist in stabilizing the new government. Francisca appreciated Perez's efforts, and the two became quick friends. Francisca also became friends with some other PDF soldiers, including Izene and Luis. Seeing the opportunity to settle down, Francisca decided to seduce Perez. It was a slow process and took two years, seeing Jorge Cruces getting elected and the Golden Era of the Protectorate begin. In 2236, Perez finally proposed to Francisca, and she accepted his proposal on the terms she would not have to take his name. Her parents were overjoyed by the proposal of marriage, and the ceremony was conducted by a Catholic priest in the winter of 2236. Soon afterwards, Francisca became pregnant with her first child, to the joy of her parents and husband. However, within three months of her pregnancy, Francisca would be forced to move to the Frontier of the Protectorate due to Perez's obligation to the PDF. Tired of her parents fawning over her, Francisca was happy to go to the Frontier on the edge of the Saltlands. Perez, along with the rest of his unit, was placed at a roadside camp on the edge of the Protectorate to safeguard the country against attacks from Aztecas, Ganaderos, Comancheros, and god knows what else. The camp the PDF soldiers arrived to was only a few tents and some untouched pre-War buildings. Remembering her discomfort at staying in tents in her Army of the Reconquista days, the pregnant Francisca decided to fix up the pre-War buildings, with some help from the other wives and their children. Soon, they had a nice, cozy place to live, if a bit damp. However, Francisca was never able to get along the rest of the wives or soldiers, probably to her lasting dislike of Anglos and political outspokenness. In fact, the only people present at the first child's birth in 2237 was a PDF medic and a horrified Perez. Francisca wanted to name her first child Jorge but instead used Sofia since it was a girl. Four more children followed and were brought up in a strict educated environment. Four lived to adulthood. Time passed slowly on the Frontier as civilization creeped towards what had become known as Camp Taberna, named after the main building's pre-War function. Perez died in 2266 and all the children left to explore distant places, away from their mother. Some even had grandchildren, who Francisca would see later. It took until 2282 for any meaningful traffic to start coming through Camp Taberna. More PDF soldiers were sent to fight on the Frontier against tribal enemies and had to be supplied by caravans, many which went through Camp Taberna. For many years, the civilian residents had welcomed visitors into their home for free but as caravan traffic began to pick up, Francisca decided to start an inn to try to make some extra coin. She bought out the other residents of the tavern's building, decorated with various pieces of Democratic Front memorabilia, and added a bar. Many PDF soldiers and locals disapproved of her charging visitors to stay at her inn, but Francisca cared little for what the rest of the town thought. And in the end the inn (or tavern), Taverna de Jorge, was a smashing success with caravaners if a little discomforting for Anglo ones. As a plus though, Francisca keeps the place safe, as she has no qualms about pulling out her shotgun to alleviate disagreements and barfights. Currently, Francisca owns Taverna de Jorge, the largest business in Camp Taverna. She stubbornly holds onto the inn as the last thing she still has and will not let anything short of God take it away from her. Also, Francisca holds very archaic views of race relations in the Protectorate, distrusting mixes, fearing ghouls, and hating Anglos. This amuses many of her patrons, who see the old lady's bigotry as endearing. Personality Francisca is known for her seeming lack of empathy and uncaring attitude towards others, caring only for her percieved causes and money. This extends to her dead husband, children, and grandchildren as well. That is why all of them left her alone in the end. She also can get very argumentative especially over Hispanic rights issues. Her regular patrons feel that her attitude is endearing (the mean old lady), but it alienates many others. In every election, Francicsa will favor the Democratic Front as she is a hardcore partisan, seeing the Front as "the party of Cruces". Her love of Jorge Cruces has not died since he has and Francisca still seems to be fawning over him, naming one of her children and her inn after him. She dislikes the current Prime Minister, Tallmade, for party reasons but approves of quite a few of his actions and reforms, having seen some of the positive effects on the Frontier. Appearance Francisca was always short but has become even shorter in old age due to stooping. She has a weather beaten face with many wrinkles and often wears loose clothing, a shawl, and a headscarf. Equipment Nowdays, Francisca is not in the military but she still has a double-barrel shotgun to protect her and her inn. Quotes By About Category:Mexico Category:Tamaulipas